Bhagavad Gita 3.35: meaning and translation
Chapter 3: Karma Yoga. Krishna says
Krishna says that one's own dharma (svadharma), even done imperfectly (viguṇa), is better than another's dharma done well.
Click or tap a word for its meaning and its dictionary page.
Text and layers
Text and layers
These choices stay in this browser.
Bhagavad Gita 3.35
श्रेयान्स्वधर्मो विगुणः परधर्मात्स्वनुष्ठितात् ।स्वधर्मे निधनं श्रेयः परधर्मो भयावहः ॥
Shreyansvadharmo vigunah paradharmatsvanushthitatSvadharme nidhanam shreyah paradharmo bhayavahah
śreyānsvadharmo viguṇaḥ paradharmātsvanuṣṭhitāt |svadharme nidhanaṃ śreyaḥ paradharmo bhayāvahaḥ ||
Our explanation Krishna says that one's own dharma (svadharma), even done imperfectly (viguṇa), is better than another's dharma done well. Death while keeping to one's own dharma is better; another's dharma brings danger (bhaya). The words carry on from 2.31–2.33, where svadharma was Arjuna's duty as a warrior, and Arjuna has just asked whether he may leave the action in front of him (3.1–3.2). Telang's note on 3.33 reads this verse as a caution against taking up the duties set for others because one dislikes one's own. The same first line returns in 18.47, where one's own work is called the work that fits one's own nature (svabhāva). The commentators explain svadharma here in different ways (see the views).
हिंदी अर्थ कृष्ण कहते हैं कि अपना धर्म (स्वधर्म), कमियों के साथ (विगुण) किया जाए तब भी, अच्छी तरह किए गए दूसरे के धर्म से श्रेष्ठ है। अपने धर्म में रहते हुए मृत्यु भी श्रेष्ठ है; दूसरे का धर्म भय (खतरा) लाने वाला है। ये वचन 2.31–2.33 से जुड़े हैं, जहाँ स्वधर्म का अर्थ योद्धा के रूप में अर्जुन का कर्तव्य था, और अर्जुन अभी पूछ चुके हैं कि क्या वे सामने के कर्म को छोड़ सकते हैं (3.1–3.2)। तेलंग 3.33 की अपनी टिप्पणी में इस श्लोक को इस बात की चेतावनी मानते हैं कि अपना कर्तव्य अच्छा न लगने पर दूसरों के लिए बताए गए कर्तव्य न अपनाए जाएँ। यही पहली पंक्ति 18.47 में फिर आती है, जहाँ अपने कर्म को अपने स्वभाव के अनुकूल कर्म कहा गया है। टीकाकार यहाँ स्वधर्म को अलग-अलग ढंग से समझाते हैं।
Word by word
Every word, with its dictionary page
Word by word
- श्रेयान् śreyān · better (comparative adjective (masculine), nominative singular) Dictionary: śreyas, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1102, col. 2 “superior, preferable, better”
- स्वधर्मः svadharmaḥ · one's own dharma (compound (masculine), nominative singular) Dictionary: sva-dharma, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1275, col. 3 “o° own duty”
- विगुणः viguṇaḥ · imperfect, lacking merit (adjective (masculine), nominative singular) Dictionary: vi-guṇa, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 950, col. 2 “deficient, imperfect”
- परधर्मात् paradharmāt · than another's dharma (compound (masculine), ablative singular) Dictionary: 1. para, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 586, col. 1 “highest, supreme, chief”; 1. dharma, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 510, col. 3 “usage, practice, customary observance or prescribed conduct, duty”
- स्वनुष्ठितात् svanuṣṭhitāt · well performed (past participle (masculine), ablative singular) Dictionary: 5. su, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1219, col. 3 “good, excellent, right, virtuous, beautiful, easy, well, rightly, much, greatly, very”; anu-ṣṭhita, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 40, col. 1 “done, practised; effected, executed, accomplished”
- स्वधर्मे svadharme · in one's own dharma (compound (masculine), locative singular) Dictionary: sva-dharma, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1275, col. 3 “o° own duty”
- निधनम् nidhanam · death (noun (neuter), nominative singular) Dictionary: 2. ni-dhana, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 548, col. 3 “conclusion, end, death, destruction”
- श्रेयः śreyaḥ · better (comparative adjective (neuter), nominative singular) Dictionary: śreyas, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 1102, col. 2 “superior, preferable, better”
- परधर्मः paradharmaḥ · another's dharma (compound (masculine), nominative singular) Dictionary: 1. para, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 586, col. 1 “highest, supreme, chief”; 1. dharma, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 510, col. 3 “usage, practice, customary observance or prescribed conduct, duty”
- भयावहः bhayāvahaḥ · bringing danger (compound (masculine), nominative singular) Dictionary: bhaya, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 747, col. 1 “fear, alarm, dread, apprehension”; ā-vaha, Monier-Williams 1899, p. 155, col. 1 “bringing, bringing to pass, producing”
Old translations
Kashinath Trimbak Telang, 1882. Public domain. Page 56.
One's own duty, though defective, is better than another's duty well performed. Death in (performing) one's own duty is preferable; the (performance of the) duty of others is dangerous.
Compare 3 translations
Kashinath Trimbak Telang, 1882. Public domain. Page 56.
One's own duty, though defective, is better than another's duty well performed. Death in (performing) one's own duty is preferable; the (performance of the) duty of others is dangerous.
You are reading this one
Annie Besant, 1895. Public domain. Page 47.
Better one's own Dharma, though destitute of merit, than the Dharma of another, well-discharged. Better death in the discharge of one's own Dharma; the Dharma of another is full of danger.
You are reading this one
Swami Swarupananda, 1909 (first printed 1907). Public domain. Page 79.
Better is one's own Dharma, (though) imperfect, than the Dharma of another well-performed. Better is death in one's own Dharma: the Dharma of another is fraught with fear.
You are reading this one
Cite this verse
The translation: K. T. Telang, The Bhagavadgîtâ (The Sacred Books of the East, vol. VIII, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1882), p. 56. Bhagavad Gita 3.35.
The translation: Annie Besant, The Bhagavad Gîtâ, or The Lord's Song (London: Theosophical Publishing Society, 1895), p. 47. Bhagavad Gita 3.35.
The translation: Swami Swarupananda, Srimad-Bhagavad-Gita (Mayavati: Prabuddha Bharata Press, 1909; first printed in Prabuddha Bharata, 1907–1909), p. 79. Bhagavad Gita 3.35.
Our explanation: “Bhagavad Gita 3.35: meaning and translation.” Pujadeep. Updated October 27, 2026. https://pujadeep.com/bhagavad-gita/3/35/
Pujadeep’s explanations are free to quote with credit: name Pujadeep and link to the page. How to credit
Classical readings, by school
Each reading is named by its school. None is presented as the only meaning.
What Advaita, Vishishtadvaita and Dvaita teach, in short
Shankara Advaita
Shankara says that someone led by liking and dislike may think another person's duty is also a duty, and take it up. The verse corrects this: it is better to die doing one's own duty, even one without merit, than to live doing another's duty well. As an example of the danger, he names naraka, a state of suffering after death.
Source: The Bhagavad-Gita, with the commentary of Sri Sankaracharya, translated by A. Mahadeva Sastri (2nd ed., Mysore: G. T. A. Printing Works, 1901), commentary on 3.34–35, p. 99. Summarised in our own words; none of its text is reproduced.
Ramanuja Vishishtadvaita
Ramanuja takes “one's own dharma” here to be the path of action (karma-yoga), which scripture sets for a person still bound to matter, and “another's dharma” to be the path of knowledge. For such a person the path of knowledge, though excellent, is hard and full of risk, while the path of action is natural and safe. Dying on it before the goal is reached is no loss, he says, because the progress made is taken up again in the next birth.
Source: Sri Bhagavad-Gita with Sri Ramanujacharya's Visishtadvaita commentary, translated by A. Govindacharya (Madras, 1898), commentary on 3.35, pp. 120–121. Summarised in our own words; none of its text is reproduced.
This verse is on our page of well-known Gita verses, by theme
Share
Show the ways to share
Send one picture or the text to one chat. The picture names its source and the address of this page.
Drawing the picture
See the words
Bhagavad Gita 3.35
श्रेयान्स्वधर्मो विगुणः परधर्मात्स्वनुष्ठितात् ।
स्वधर्मे निधनं श्रेयः परधर्मो भयावहः ॥
“One's own duty, though defective, is better than another's duty well performed. Death in (performing) one's own duty is preferable; the (performance of the) duty of others is dangerous.”
(K. T. Telang, The Bhagavadgîtâ (The Sacred Books of the East, vol. VIII, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1882), p. 56, public domain)
“Better one's own Dharma, though destitute of merit, than the Dharma of another, well-discharged. Better death in the discharge of one's own Dharma; the Dharma of another is full of danger.”
(Annie Besant, The Bhagavad Gîtâ, or The Lord's Song (London: Theosophical Publishing Society, 1895), p. 47, public domain)
“Better is one's own Dharma, (though) imperfect, than the Dharma of another well-performed. Better is death in one's own Dharma: the Dharma of another is fraught with fear.”
(Swami Swarupananda, Srimad-Bhagavad-Gita (Mayavati: Prabuddha Bharata Press, 1909; first printed in Prabuddha Bharata, 1907–1909), p. 79, public domain)
Sanskrit: G. A. Natesan & Co., Madras, 1922.
https://pujadeep.com/bhagavad-gita/3/35/ Nothing is sent from this site. Your own app sends it, to the chat you choose. The picture quotes the translation you chose on this page, with its name and year.
Sanskrit text: The Bhagavad-Gita, or The Lord's Song, with the text in Devanagari and an English translation, 1922. Meanings: written for Pujadeep and checked against the cited edition. Source and changes
Questions families ask
Who speaks Bhagavad Gita 3.35?
Krishna speaks this verse, in chapter 3 (Karma Yoga).
Where does the Sanskrit text come from?
Sanskrit text: The Bhagavad-Gita, or The Lord's Song, with the text in Devanagari and an English translation, 1922. Meanings: written for Pujadeep and checked against the cited edition. See the source
Is the meaning on this page a translation?
Explanation written for this site from the sources listed here, and checked against the cited edition. It is not a translation and not the only way to read the text. Free to quote with credit.
Source and licence
- Sanskrit text
- The Bhagavad-Gita, or The Lord's Song, with the text in Devanagari and an English translation (Annie Besant, G. A. Natesan & Co., Madras, 1922). Public domain. The Sanskrit on these pages was read from this printing’s page images.
- Translation
- The Bhagavadgîtâ with the Sanatsugâtîya and the Anugîtâ, translated by Kâshinâth Trimbak Telang (The Sacred Books of the East, vol. VIII, ed. F. Max Müller) (Kashinath Trimbak Telang, F. Max Müller, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1882). Public domain. Shown verbatim, as printed.
- Translation
- The Bhagavad Gîtâ, or The Lord's Song, translated by Annie Besant (Annie Besant, Theosophical Publishing Society, London, 1895). Public domain. Shown verbatim, as printed.
- Translation
- Srimad-Bhagavad-Gita, with Sanskrit Text; Paraphrase with Word-by-word Literal Translation; English Rendering and Comments, Index, &c., by the Swami Swarupananda (Himalayan Series, No. XX) (Swami Swarupananda, The Editors and Publishers, Advaita Ashrama, Mayavati, Prabuddha Bharata Press, Mayavati, Almora, Himalayas, 1909). Public domain. Shown verbatim, as printed.
- Commentary
- The Bhagavad-Gita, with the commentary of Sri Sankaracharya, translated by A. Mahadeva Sastri (2nd ed., Mysore: G. T. A. Printing Works, 1901) (Public-domain scan, University of California Libraries). Summarised in our own words; none of its text is reproduced.
- Commentary
- Sri Bhagavad-Gita with Sri Ramanujacharya's Visishtadvaita commentary, translated by A. Govindacharya (Madras, 1898) (Scan uploaded to archive.org (folkscanomy collection)). Summarised in our own words; none of its text is reproduced.
- Common wording
- In this text, 32 words follow today's common wording, checked against sanskritdocuments.org; Sanskrit Wikisource; Gita Press, Gorakhpur; GRETIL, Göttingen and Bhaktivedanta Book Trust.
- Our explanation
- Explanation written for this site from the sources listed here, and checked against the cited edition. It is not a translation and not the only way to read the text. Free to quote with credit.
- Checked
- Checked against the cited edition, October 27, 2026.